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Castle Zorma
A castle ruin in the Skitaura Mountains. The spirit of Hardnit's founder, Zorma, stills inhabits the ruins according to legend. Honest warriors that seek his advice are given tasks to perform whose completion means the solution to their problems. Map I-e History. Some say this castle in the Skitaura Mountains does not exist, others say it is a haunted ruin, but most believe it to be the home of the ghost of Zorma, legendary founder of Hardnit. In the years following the nomad invasions, Penboyn sought to rebuild its position and create a 'buffer zone' of friendly lands neighboring the kingdom. Zorma was the third son of some lesser noble, and he gathered a small band of would-be knights and went out to carve out a piece of the world and call it his own with the blessing of the Penboynian king. He went to the plundered lands that once had been Servania . It is told that he found the Banner of Bravery near Servan. In any case, his following grew into an army, and with that army, he conquered what came to be called Zormaria and founded the lake harbor town Zormaras in 700 CC (according to tradition). He kept exploring, and made many expeditions up the Brindan river. Tradition claims that he built the castle in 712 at the source of Brindan, but this does not go well along with current cartography. In any case, the castle was built at a dead end of a gorge. It commanded nothing but rocks, no roads passed it by. Some say it was meant as a retreat from the beginning. He died there around 724, before Zormaria was declared a Penboynian march (and many years before 747, when Zormaria along with former High Lands possessions were declared the Duchy of Hardnit). Since then, rockfalls have closed the gorge, and no group of explorers has ever found the castle since. But many warriors claim that they have walked the gorge alone for days and weeks, finally stumbling into the gates. And after knocking, the gates would be opened. Then, in the courtyard, the ghost of Zorma bid them welcome, asking what troubled them so much as to seek his advice. They would tell him, and if their needs were dire, and their willingness to solve the problem in a fair way were sincere, then color would flow to his face, and he would come to life for a time. He would then point to a solution that required nothing else than combat skills and bravery. But be warned, if you go searching in the Skitaura for the Castle Zorma you must be alone and a true warrior. If you possess the power to cast magic, you will find nothing but rocks. And if you are pure fighter, and you seek Zorma without having a real problem, other than your empty purse, he will shake his head and fade, leaving you to run from the ghosts of the castle before the sun sets.